Jogger dies after heart attack at MacRitchie

A jogger in his 50s was found on the ground on MacRitchie Nature Trail near the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) on Saturday morning.

The Straits Times understands that he suffered from a cardiac arrest and later died in hospital.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said it received a call for help at 240 Sime Road - SICC's address - at about 11.05am. It sent a fire bike and an ambulance to the scene and the man was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

A fellow jogger, Mr Patrick Yap, 37, told The Straits Times yesterday that he saw the man, in a blue singlet and black shorts, lying on the ground. Mr Yap and a woman jogger ran to help him but found him unresponsive.

Mr Yap called for an ambulance and another passing family stopped to help.

"The wife was a former nurse, so she put him in a recovery position,"said Mr Yap.

A recovery position is when a person is placed lying down, turned on the side with the head facing sideways.

"He could breathe for a bit, gasping for air. We didn't do cardiopulmonary resuscitation as there was a faint heartbeat," he added.

"But about two or three minutes later, I noticed he stopped breathing, so that was when we started compressions. An SICC buggy drove by, and we shouted at the driver to get the automated external defibrillator."

Mr Yap added that the man, who had only a set of car keys on him, was unconscious when taken into the ambulance. - THE STRAITS TIMES